pennabilli, on Feb 14 2009, 09:57 AM, said:
one more thing: the mating dragonflies are really damsels, more delicate than dragonflies. Damsels resting keep their wings vertical back to back, while dragonflies keep them open horizontally; that way you distinguish also moths -wings spread horizontally- from butterflies - vertical wings.
Hello pennabilli,
Nice pics.. you are quite right regarding the relative wing positions of dragonflies and damselflies but that isn't always the case with the order lepidoptera.. the so called moths and butterflies. There is in fact no valid taxonomic distinction between the two groups in that order... although there is a lot of debate concerning the issue. The bottom-line however is that there are in fact numerous species that are classified in families commonly regarded as moths that look like butterflies as there are likewise butterflies that look like moths.
Examples might include the family of skipper "butterflies" which often hold their wings slight open and the Brimstone "moths" which often hold their wings slightly closed.. pics below of skippers and the brimstone moths.
Another general guide is to examine the antenna's shape.. butterflies usually having a club shape as opposed to the moths fan like shape but there are exceptions to that as well. It can be quite confusing. I suppose we'll just have to wait until DNA studies provides us with definitive answers to these classification questions.
Regards
Clive
Help
